Task force ends, blight problems remain for Torrington

The debris at 408/412 Main St. at the time of a complaint filed in October 2013. Since this photo was taken the property owner has made progress in cleaning up the property and is still working on bringing property to compliance.
Contributed Photo — City of Torrington

The Blight Task Force, formed under former Mayor Ryan Bingham, was made up of the city planner, chief building official, fire marshal, chief of police, director of economic development, corporation counsel, director of the health district and any other city staff as appropriate. Carbone chose not to continue it, but said that departments are still working together under the auspices of the city’s official Blight Assessment Board, comprised of the city assessor, treasurer and a code official. It has the authority to determine when a special assessment can be imposed as well on a property owner, and whether the city can enter a property to perform clean-up.

“We are short-staffed,” said Malanca. (An assistant zoning enforcement officer position was eliminated in 2010.) “I have to prioritize violations. There are so many factors that affect going after the property owners — financial resources, the homeowner’s age, etc.”

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Malanca considers the financial resources available to the property owner, the number of complaints and the severity of the violation. It all starts with a complaint, kept anonymous by the city, but usually from a neighbor.

“When we get a complaint, we’ll look at the property, try to talk to the property owner. Then we’ll issue a notice of violation, which is a way to give someone a chance to fix the problem,” Malanca, said. “If the problem doesn’t get fixed, then we issue a cease and desist order. After that, we retain the right to issue fines until the property is brought into compliance.”

Malanca said the city tries to work with property owners as much as possible.

The city has a specific definition of blight, which includes things like broken doors or windows; boarded up doors or windows; walls in a state of deterioration, collapsed, or missing; dead trees; vermin infestation; accumulation of stagnant or unsanitary water, debris on premises.

The city further details that a property is blighted if it has one or more outstanding violations of building, zoning, fire, housing or health codes; four or more occurrences of violations of building, zoning, fire, housing or health codes; more than two blighted conditions that do not pose a significant risk to health or safety as identified by the code enforcement officer, or attracting illegal activity documented by the police.

As of June 19, there were 24, mostly residential, properties listed as having active zoning violations, most dating back to 2009, under the city’s current ordinance covering blighted properties.

The violations may still be on the list simply because the city has not revisited to see that they’re in compliance. When a reporter recently visited all 24 sites, only eight of these had visible debris on site.

While there is no official “blight list” in Torrington, a property is identified as blighted when it has a planning and zoning violation for junk, operates an unlicensed junk yard or contains unregistered motor vehicles, according to section 161-6 definitions A-4-H of the June 30, 2013, ordinance.

Some properties have violations dating back eight or more years, zoning records show, including residential properties at 131/135 Grant St., 375 Hayden Hill Road, 185 Winsted Road and 408/412 Main St.

An Oct. 7, 2013, an anonymous complaint the city received about 408/412 Main St. described the property as a “complete dump” with “garbage everywhere,” and people sleeping in broken-down garages. The complainant mentioned trying to talk to property owner Peter Andrighetti, who also has a business office on the property, about the situation to no avail, and stated “...actions and lack of action to resolve the issues going on there are contributing to the downfall of that part of Main Street.”

The city investigated the complaint, finding violations with zoning, building and health codes. Thomas Stansfield, deputy director of health at the Torrington Area Health District, reported six complaints received on the property — three for no heat and three refuse complaints.

On Jan. 16, Malanca issued a cease-and-desist order for “several unregistered vehicles,” claiming the property is “being maintained as a ‘junk yard.’” A June 13 letter detailed four phone conversations with Andrighetti about how to become compliant with regulations by keeping up on garbage and removing some of the vehicles.

Calls to Andrighetti from The Register Citizen were not returned.

A complaint from June 10, 2013, about 185 Winsted Road aired suspicions that “an amateur auto repair business” might be operating there in violation of city codes. Violations on this property, now owned by Mark Zarins, date back to before Nov. 17, 1998. The property was issued approximately 10 citations for non-compliance from July 2003 to January 2005. Zarins didn’t respond to requests for comment.

“They keep bringing in a car and then, over time, letting the registration lapse,” Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone said of a typical blight situation. “Or there’s people that collect stuff. It gets cleaned up and then they collect more. It’s habit or behavior, it doesn’t bother the [property owner]. We’re trying to be more cooperative with the property owners, working with them, instead of judicating.”

Complaints on file about 375 Hayden Hill Road, owned by Lisa and Rene Blais, date back to June 1996 and range from unregistered vehicles on the property to not having proper permits for construction work on the home. According to zoning records, the property received two cease and desist letters in 1997, and another in 2002 following a similar reported violation.

The property also racked up a series of citations issued from August 2003 until November 2006 and was brought to the attention of the city’s corporation counsel in 2008. While no additional violations have been filed since, zoning records indicate that Blais once again made several improvements during that time without the proper permits. On June 11, Malanca extended a previously set deadline for improvements after an email exchange with Blais.

Rene Blais, whose property has a well-maintained lawn with flower beds, said part of the issue with becoming compliant with zoning and building ordinances is that a new ruling prohibits any unregistered vehicles on a property.

“It hurts the hobbyist,” said Blais. “The zoning violation caused the building violations because with the zoning violation, I couldn’t get the permits for the work on my house.”

Blais expected to finally be in compliance with zoning following a recent re-inspection with Malanca.

“Since Rista came in, it’s a kinder, gentler City Hall,” Blais said. “Before there was no negotiating. The previous person was very cold and used much stronger language.”

Blais has been trying to work with the city over the years to become compliant.

“The new people [at City Hall] will help people get to compliance because they treat people with respect,” Blais said. “I think it will change the attitudes of other property owners and myself.”

A March 2006 complaint for the property at 131/135 Grant St. stated there were “abandoned cars,” “piles of debris and garbage...for several months.” A second complaint was called into the engineering department the same month regarding allegations of raw sewage running from the house down to the river behind the property, a problem with the plumbing/sewer that was referred to the Torrington Area Health District.

Records from the health district indicate that the city took care of the sewer line problem in April 2006 after the property owner struggled to have the problem fixed. The property owner was advised to spread lime on the “extensive overflow area.”

The property was eventually the target of a cease-and-desist order in May 2006, and went on to receive more in March 2009, January 2011 and February 2013 for the same violations. In that time, the property owner — originally Helen Rhone, but now the executor of her estate, Barbara Watkins — requested a permit from the building department to expand a side porch, which was not granted because the property was listed as “non-conforming” due to its location on the lot. Watkins also requested and was granted a permit for a new staircase built leading to the porch and entryway.

Watkins said that when she moved onto the property, she started cleaning up. The two homes on this property are both in need of cosmetic updating, but the two elderly homeowners do their best with the resources they have to keep up on the property.

“There was a porch that collapsed. It was winter and it was hard to get it taken care of, but she did it when she could,” said Watkins.

The porch has since been removed.

Nephew Darryl Weaver said they’ve worked to clean up the property but admits it’s difficult with limited means.

“Without having the resources, it’s hard to get things done,” Weaver said. “We took our time to get it cleaned up.”

Life circumstances and the age and resources of the homeowner can all serves as a hindrance in properties coming into compliance with violations. Carbone and building official Brett Zuratis both said they recognize that with elderly property owners, they are confined by the actions of their caregivers and their resources. In those cases, leniency is shown.

“Off and on, the homeowners bring the property into compliance and then it falls out of compliance again,” said City Planner Martin Connor.

“The goal is to get compliance... and maintain it,” said Malanca.

Corporation Counsel Ray Rigat said, especially in regard to properties that have become de facto junk yards, that at least four times a year city officials have to “triage” the properties in groups of two or three and make a decision about whether court action is necessary.

If it is, they go to the City Council for approval and move forward with a formal complaint through the court system.

The whole process can take several months or several years, depending on different factors, said Rigat.

“In the past two years, most people, after we’ve gotten the order from the court, have cleaned up the property,” said Rigat. “[Court proceedings] are the wake-up call. We’re always willing to work with people. Sometimes we’re dealing with difficult situations, or difficult people. What people need to do is, like my father used to say, ‘have respect for your neighbors.’ If everyone in Torrington does that, I think we’ll be OK.”

Jenny Golfin can be reached at 860-489-3121, ext. 357. Find an error in this story? Email factcheck@registercitizen.com.